Heretofore, normally kegs of beer have to be refrigerated from the time they leave the brewery until they are used in order to avoid spoiling of the beer. This requires refrigerated trucks for transporting the kegs of beer from the brewery to a refrigerated storage warehouse and refrigerated trucks for distributing the kegs to the ultimate users. The cool kegs of beer are then stored in a refrigerated area at the establishment where they are ultimately to be used and, as they are used, they must be maintained in a refrigerated cabinet. As can be seen, such is an expensive and cumbersome way of dispensing tap beer. Recently, however, breweries have begun pasteurizing beer placed in kegs, and as a result, the beer does not have to be refrigerated. However, the beer does have to be cooled prior to being consumed. Normally, wine is shipped to the establishment where it is ultimately to be served in an unrefrigerated plastic container. These containers normally have to be refrigerated prior to use.
Attempts have been made to provide beverage dispensers which are capable of cooling the beverage as it passes between a keg and a dispensing faucet. One such device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,056,273. Other devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,470,936-3,263,442 and 2,039,556. While the device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,056,273 does disclose a beverage dispenser that is capable of cooling the beverage as it is drawn from a container, no details of the control utilized with the apparatus for controlling the thickness of an ice bank provided therein is disclosed.
Another problem with the apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,056,273 is that it utilizes a helical blade for circulating water upwardly within a container to cool water carried within a pump. As a result of the use of this helical blade, there will not be an even wiping motion of the water within the container across the surface of the ice bank. This, in turn, will cause the ice bank to be uneven.